Fuel-pressing machine.



N.'S. CLARKE & A. LQBOWEN.

FUEL PRBSSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DB0.17.1912.

WIT/VESSES:

THE MORRIS PETERS COA. PHOTC-LITHO., WASHING VON. D. C.

N. s. CLARKE & A. L. BOWEN.

FUEL PRESSING MACHINE.

APPLIGATION FILED DIEU. 17. 1912.

Patented Feb. 23, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTORNEY WIT/VESSES.'

HE MORRIS PETERS Co.. F'Hco-LITH' WASH/Nc mN. D C,

N. S. CLARKE & A. L. BOWEN.

FUEL PRESSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION 4FILED DEG. 17. 1912.

Patented Feb. 23, 1915.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 8.

,By M

lf2- /I WITNESSES:

A TTHNEY THE NoRre/s PEYERS C0., PHnTC-LITHO., WASH:NuroN. D C.

NICHOLAS S. CLARKE. AND AARON L. BOVEN, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNORS,

BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO COMPRESSEI) FUEL COMPANY, OF SEATTLE, WASI-I- NG'TON, A CORPORATION OF YVASHINGTON.

FUEL-PRESSING MACHINE.

antennae.

Application filed December 17, 1912.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, NICHOLAS S. CLARKE, a subject of the King of England, and AARON L. BOWEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Seattle, in the county of King and State of `Washington, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Fuel-Pressing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

rllhis invention relates to that class of machines which are employed in the manufacture of artificial fuel and particularly to improvements in the machine shown and described in U. S. Patent No. 949,176, issued Feb. i5, i910.

The objects of the invention are simplicity and economy in construction, facility in adjustment and repair, steadiness and smoothness in Operation, economy in power, and a high degree of efficiency.

The invention consists in improvements to the entire machine and to its yvarious parts and includes principally the construction of the mechanism for operating the plungers, the dies and means for adjusting them, the devices for cutting the sticks of compressed material into predetermined lengths and means for controlling and operating the saine, and other details, all of which will be hereinafter described.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying the present invention shown partly in section to disclose interior portions thereof. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional View of the die and associated parts. Fig. d is a detail transverse sectional view showing the construction of the tension and guide pulleys for the iiexible core. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the mechanism for regulating the devices for cutting the material into desired lengths. Fig. 6 is a front elevational view of certain parts shown in Fig. 5. Fig. `7 is a plan view of the cutter-head shown detached from the machine. Fig. 8 is adetail plan view of the preferred form of reversing driving mechanism for the die adjusting devices.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 23, 1915.

serial No. 737,339.

The reference numeral 10 designates the side members of the machine frame which, as shown, are supported upon a foundation consisting of horizontally disposed girder members l1. Each of said side members is constituted of two inclined legs 12 which are joined from their upper ends by a tie piece 13. Journaled in bearings provided in said tie pieces is a transversely arranged rockershaft la having keyed or otherwise secured to its protruding ends downwardly extending rocker arms 15. Pitmen 16 connect a pin 15l extending through the free ends of said arms with crank pins, such as 17, provided upon toothed gear wheels 18 mounted upon a shaft 19 and rotated by pinions, as 20, provided upon a power driven shaft 21. Said rocker arms are of substantially triangular shapes, as shown in Fig. 1, and are coupled at opposite sides of the rocker shaft by pins 22. The pins 22 are connected by connecting rods 23 with cross heads 24 operating between guides 25 lwhich are secured to the legs 12 of the frame. A plunger 26 is secured to eachof the cross heads. The plungers reciprocate through feed hoppers 27 to carry the material into the respective dies therebelow and in which the material is compressed by the plunger. Provided in each hopper is a conveyer screw 271 for pushing the material into the path of the plunger. Said conveyer screws are mounted on shafts 27 2 which are provided with sprocket wheels for a power transmission chain, indicated by 273.

A die consists of a chamberedy body 28 (Fig. 8) having inserted therein a tube 29 to afford an annular space 30 about the latter for the circulation of cooling water for the maintenance of the die at a suitable temperature. nteriorly of the tube 29 is a bushing 31 and fitted within the latter is a removable liner 32 which serves as the die proper. rlhis liner extends a distance below the bushing and in such protruding portion the liner is formed relatively thin and provided with longitudinal slots 321.

As shown in Fig. 3, there is rigidly secured below the body 28 a collar 38 which supports a discharge pipe 34 which is disposed in axial alinement with the die and plunger therefor. lnterposed between the bushing 31 and collar 33 is a rotatable annulus 35 provided upon its inner peripheral surface with screw threads which engage in external threads provided upon a sleeve 36. The sleeve at its upper end is fitted within the tube 29 and interiorly is formed with a tapered bore 361 which embraces the opposing tapering surfaces of jaw members 37. rlhe jaw members are desirably hung from the bushing 31 as by the interfitting of a marginal tongue 371 provided upon the former within a circumferential groove 31l of the bushing, By rotating the annulus 35 lin one direction, the sleeve 36 is thrust axially over the jaw members which are thereby pressed concentrically inward to reduce the size of the opening at the lower end of the liner so as to afford requisite resistance upon the material passing through the die and also cause the material to bond itself with the core. `When the annulus is turned in a contrary direction, it is withdrawn with respect to the jaw members, whereupon the resiliency of the liner structure will assert itself to restore it to its normal cylindrical condition. For controlling an annulus, we provide thereon peripheral gear teeth, as 351, which are engaged by a worm 38 mounted upon a stub shaft 39 rotatable in boxes secured to the machine frame. Shaft 39 is driven from another shaft 40 by means of a chain 41 passing about sprocket wheels 391 and 401 provided on the respective shafts. Splined to shaft 40 (Fig. 8) is a pair of oppositely disposed bevel friction-wheels 42 and 421 integrallyconnected so as to be moved in unison axially of the shaft, as by a shifter lever 43, to engage one or the other of said friction wheels with a bevel friction pinion 44 which is rotated upon a power driven shaft 45. By means of said friction gear it is evident that the worm shaft 39 may be rotated in either rotary direction to control the opening or closing` of the discharge end of the liner, as above explained. To enable the operator to regulate the effective size of the liner, we provide screw threads, indicated by 392 on the worm shaft which engage with gear teeth provided in the periphery of a rotary disk or dial plate 46, Fig. 2, having graduated marks thereon whichA are employed in conjunction with a pointer 461 secured to the frame.

ln the manufacture of the fuel, the sawdust, shavings or other material, is pressed about a core of rope or cord 47 which is supplied from reels 48 and through axial bores provided in crossheads 24 and plungers 26. The cord 47 for each plunger is led from a reel to and about pulleys 49 and 50 and from the latter is conducted over a guide wheel 51 into the bores of a crosshead and a plunger. The pulley 49 is provided with a plurality of grooves, as 491, Fig. 4, and is likewise formed with a face 492 to receive a brake-block 52 which is secured to an arm 521, said arm being pivotally connected to the frame at 522 and at its free end is hung a weight 53 for applying appropriate tension to the rope. The other pulleys 50 comprise a number of sheaves having a single groove each and are mounted upon a shaft to enable the same to be independently rotated so as to compensate for any irregularities in the size of the rope and distribute the strains more uniformly between the pulleys 49 and 50. As the material is supplied to a die, it is pressed into a cylindrical sha pe therein by a succession of strokes of a plunger and is forced out of the delivery end of the discharge pipe 34. Then it is protruded sulliciently from the pipe it is automatically cut off into predetermined lengths by means of the mechanism which we will now describe.

Rotatable in a plane rectangular to the axis of the discharge pipe and subjacent thereto is a cutter head consisting of four knife blades 54 which extend radially from a shaft 55 having mounted thereon a toothed bevel gear wheel 56 which is in mesh with asimilar gear wheel 57 iixedly mounted upon an intermittently driven shaft 58. Shaft 58 has also secured thereon a ratchet wheel 59 provided with teeth 591 which are arranged to be engaged upon occasion by a pawl 60 carried by an arm 61 which is vibrated by a connecting rod 611 from an arm 62 provided on a rocker shaft 63. Said rocker-shaft receives its motion from rockerarms 15 by means of a rod 64 which is rigidly secured to the shaft 63 and slidably connected to a block 65 which is swiveled to the pin 151. The arm 61 is loosely mounted upon the shaft 58 as is also a substantially circular guard plate 66. This plate is of greater diameter than the ratchet wheel 59 and is provided in its circumference with a recess 661 which terminates at a shoulder 662 and is also provided with spaced teeth 663 and 661, Fig. 6.

67 is a cylindrical casing secured to a bracket 68 which is secured to one of the fra-me girder members 11. Within said casing is a piston 69 which is urged outwardly by a helical spring 70. Said piston is connected by a rod 71 with a crank pin 72 provided on the guard plate 66 and whereby the power of the spring is applied to yieldingly hold the plate in the rotary position in which it is represented in Fig. 6 and whereat it is arrested by the tooth 661 encountering a fixed stop 681.

74 represents a bar carrying an adjustable pedal 75. Said bar is suspended by links 76 and 77 which are hingedly connected to girder members 11 by rods 761 and 771 to afford swinging up and down movements to the bar 74. The link 77 has connected thereto an arm 77 2, Fig. 5, which is pressed upwardly from below by a finger 78 provided on the end of a lever 7 81 througl'i the office of a weight 7 9 which is carried at the other end of the lever. Intermediate of its length the lever 7 81 is secured to a shaft 80 which serves as a pivotal pin therefor. Shaft 80 is journaled in bearings provided and has an arm 601 at its outer end. A dog Sl is pivotally connected by a pin 82 to a stationary part of the frame and is provided at one end with a hook 811 which is adapted to engage with the guard tooth 663 when the latter is presented thereto.

83 is a spring tending to swing the dog 8l into engagement with the referred to tooth.

A dog 84 is carried by the arm 801 and is actuated by a spring 85 to vcause the hooked end S--l of this dog to engage over the eX- tremity 812 of the other dog when the arm 801 is swung upwardly.

rlhe operation of the above described cutter regulating devices-may be explained as follows: l/Vhen the compressed fuel, in the shape of a stick, is protrude-d sufficiently far from the discharge pipe 36, it will engage the pedal 75 and the further movement of the stick will cause the bar 74e to be thrust downwardly and swing the links 76 and 77 therewith together with the arm 772. The latter accordingly influences the lever 7 81, in opposition to the power of weight 7 9, to cause the shaft 80 to be rocked sufficiently to disengage the dog 8l from the tooth 663 through the medium of the dog 841-. rlhe guard plate 66 beingl thus released from dog 8l is affected by the spring 70 to rotate the plate into the position in which it is shown in Fig. 6, thereby revolving the recess 661 into position to allow the pawl 60 to engage one of the ratchet teeth 591 when the arm 6l is swung in the next upward movement of the plunger. The ratchet wheel is thus given a fourth of a rotation to correspondingly actuate the cutter head and cut olf by one of the knife blades the fuel stick which protrudes from the discharge pipe 234-. During the ultimate movement of the pawl 60 it engages the shoulder 662 and causes the guard plate to be moved in unison with the ratchet wheel and in opposition to the spring until the tooth 663 is carried beyond the hook of the dog to be engaged by the same. By thus advancing the ratchet wheel one-fourth of a turn, a second tooth thereof is brought into position to be engaged by the pawl, but as the recess of the guard plate has been shifted the pawl is restrained from such engagement until the plate has been disengaged from the dog 8l and restored to the position in which it is illustrated through the instrumentality of the spring 70. By adjusting the position of the pedal the length of the stick of fuel to be cut off is determined and it is obvious that the pawl will remain in operation until the guard plate is affected by a stick pushing down the pedal to rei lease the plate to enable the spring to move it into position to render the pawl operable.

What we Claim, is-

1. ln a machine of the cla-ss described, the combination of a rocker-shaft, vibratory arms provided on said shaft, a die, a plunger arranged to reciprocate in said die, operative connections between said arms and the plunger for actuating the latter when the arms are vibrated, means to vibrate said arms, devices actuated from said arms to cut the fuel, and means controlled by the fuel whereby said devices are regulated to cause the fuel to be cut into predetermined lengths.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a die, a plunger therefor, a rocker-arm operatively connected with the plunger, means actuated by said arms for cutting 0H fuel as it is projected from said die, devices for rendering said cutting means inoperative, and adjustable devices which are influenced by the fuel for causing the aforesaid devices to become temporarily inoperative whereby said cutting means become operative to cut the fuel into predetermined lengths.

8. lin a machine of the class described, the combination with a die, a plunger therefor, a` rocker-arm operatively connected with the plunger, means actuated bv said arms for cutting off fuel as it is projected from said die, spring controlled devices for rendering said cutting means inoperative, and adjustable devices which are influenced by the fuel for causing the aforesaid devices to become temporarily inoperative whereby said cutting means become operative to cut thefuel into predetermined lengths.

4. ln a machine of the class described, the combination with a reciprocating plunger and a die having a contractible delivery end, of power actuated mechanism for regulating the opening of said die, and indicating means operatively connected with said mechanism for indicating the relative amount of opening of said die.

5. ln a machine of the class described,the combination with a reciprocating plunger, of a slotted die, jaw-members surrounding the lower portion of the die, a screwthreaded sleeve provided with a tapering bore into which said jaw-members extend, an annulus provided internally with screw threads to engage the threads of said sleeve, and power driven devices whereby said annulus may be rotated to advance or retract the sleeve with respect to the j .aw-members whereby the latter are actuated to regulate the effective opening of the die.

6. In a machine of the class described, the Signed at Seattle, VVa-sh., this lth day of `combination With an adjustable die, and a December, 1912.

5. fuel after the same has been forced by the reciprocating plunger therefor of a rotary v cutter, and mechanism controlled by the plunger from said die for rendering the Witnesses: cutter operative to cut ofia the fuel to pre- HORACE BARNES, determined lengths. E. PETERSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, ID. C. 

